Jill L Grant

Title/Position:  Professor Emeritus
Department/Faculty/Institution: School of Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Dalhousie University
Degree(s)/School(s): PhD, MA (University of Waterloo), MA (McMaster University), BA (University of Western Ontario)
E-mail: jill.grant@dal.ca

MCRI Projects: B1: New Suburban Forms; C2: North America Research Cluster.

Background: Jill Grant’s research seeks to illuminate the relationship between theory and practice in planning. Her interests focus on the design and planning of residential environments with a special focus on trends such as new urbanism and gated communities. She has participated in interdisciplinary research projects dealing with the social dynamics of economic performance (related to the application creative cities ideas in local economic development), on neighbourhood change in Canada, and on the relationship between youth health and the built environment. Dr. Grant has published dozens of academic articles and five books: The Drama of Democracy: Contention and dispute in community planning (1994, University of Toronto Press), Planning the Good Community: New urbanism in theory and practice (2006, Routledge), Towards Sustainable Cities: East Asian, North American and European perspectives on managing urban regions (2004, with A Sorensen and P Marcotullio, Ashgate), A Reader in Canadian Planning: Linking theory and practice (2008, Thomson Nelson), and Seeking Talent for Creative Cities: The social dynamics of innovation (2014, University of Toronto Press) .

Research Interests: Canadian Suburban Development Trends; Planning Theory and Practice; History of Planning; Neighbourhood Change.

Selected Publications:

Grant, J.L. (Forthcoming). Contested spaces: Suburban development in Halifax and other mid-sized Canadian cities. In J. Nijman (ed.) The Life of North American Suburbs. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Grant, J.L., Filion, P. & Low, S. (2019). Path dependencies that limit suburban intensification in mid-sized cities. Canadian Geographer. 63 (2): 240-253.

Grant, J.L. (2018). Factors affecting development patterns in the suburbs of small to mid-sized Canadian cities. In R. Harris & U. Lehrer (eds.) The Suburban Land Question: A global survey. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 191-213.

Grant, J.L. (2018). Growth management theory: From the Garden City to Smart Growth. In M. Gunder, A. Madanipour & V. Watson (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Planning Theory. Routledge, pp 41-52.

Filion, P. & Grant, J.L. (2018).  The impact of generational change on cities. In M. Moos, D. Pfeiffer, and T. Vinodrai (eds.) The Millennial City: Trends, implications, and prospects for urban planning and policy. London: Routledge, pp 14-25.

Grant, J.L. (2016). The social dynamics of economic performance in Halifax. In D. Wolfe & G. Gertler (eds.) Growing Urban Economies: Innovation, Creativity, and Governance in Canadian City-Regions. University of Toronto Press, pp 265-284.

Brewer, K. & Grant, J.L. (2015). Seeking density and mix in the suburbs: Challenges for mid-sized cities. Planning Theory and Practice. 16 (2): 151-168.

Grant, J.L. & Filion, P. (2015). Emerging urban forms in the Canadian city. In P. Filion, M. Moos, T. Vinodrai & R. Walker (eds.) Canadian Cities in Transition: Perspectives for an Urban Age. Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, pp. 288-304.

Grant, J.L. (2013). Suburbs in transition. The future of the suburbs, Interface. Planning Theory and Practice. 14 (3): 391-392.